Environmental Seminar 15 May - Professor Jonathan Rhodes

What can we Learn from Koala Conservation Policy?

Abstract

Koalas receive a huge amount of attention in Australia and globally; arguably too much attention, given their limited contribution to broader ecosystem function and the desperate need for funding for other species. However, it is often argued that: (1) by protecting koalas we also protect a wide range of other species at the same time and (2) if we can develop successful koala conservation strategies we can learn about how to succeed for other species. In this talk I will focus on this second point and explore what we have and have not learnt from applied koala ecology and koala policy processes in Queensland and New South Wales over the past 15 years and how this is relevant for biodiversity conservation more broadly.

Biography

Jonathan is based in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science at UQ. He is a landscape ecologist working at the interface between ecology and policy to improve decision-making for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services. He has worked on the koala conservation problem for nearly 20 years.